Of all the decisions Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey coach Dave Adolph had to make this summer, picking a new captain was one of the toughest.
It came down to defencemen Tanner Lishchynsky and Colby Harmsworth, with Lishchynsky ultimately winning out.
“At the end of the day Tanner’s got a little bit of edge and he doesn’t like me some days,” Adolph said.
“He challenges and Colby’s the voice of reason so that’s why I chose (him). I like to be pushed.”
Lishchynsky said it won’t be hard to lead his teammates as they are all leaders too.
“They’ve all been captains of their junior teams at some point so you’ve got to just lead them the right way and make sure we’re all on the same goal and working the same so that’s kind of the way I look at it. Just keep working hard.”
Lishchynsky himself last wore the “C” with the Kootenay Ice in his final year of junior; a season that he said provided him with plenty of leadership lessons.
“We weren’t a very good team so you had to try to learn how to lead guys differently,” Lishchynsky said.
“You don’t need to be yelling and screaming at them, just give them hints now and then, show them what you’ve learned and just keep your head on straight and keep moving forward.”
Talent isn’t the issue with the Huskies — it’s getting over the hump.
The Dogs have played in the Canada West final and the national championship in each of the last three seasons with no banners to show for it.
“It’s definitely a learning process. There’s only so much learning you can do before you got to take that one extra step so hopefully, this is the year and so far I like our chances,” said fifth-year forward Kohl Bauml.
“We got a good older group of guys and some good young players coming into the system this year so it’s shaping up to be a good year.”
The playoffs are still months away and for now, the focus is on starting strong at home against the Mount Royal Cougars.
“You know they were good about four, five years ago and then they had a bit of a downturn, but I think they’re a top three, four team, for sure a top ten team in the country,” Adolph said of the Cougars.
The Huskies and Royals face each other on Sept. 27 and 28 at Merlis Belsher Place in Saskatoon. The puck drops at 7 p.m. CT both days.